Where's my Delinquent?
by sKetchdiva
Summary: Duncan has been kidnapped by the forces of ZHQ. Courtney must risk her life, friends, and her secrecy toward her powers to save him. Who is D? What kind of power do their enemies contain? All these questions answered and more, if you read the story. DO IT
1. Chapter 1

**dIsClAiMeR: Hey! Guess what! This is my FORTH story! Okay, I DO NOT own TDI or the TDI characters! Just this SUPER awesome, ACTION-PACKED PLLOOOOOT! I personally love this one because it has a little more of a fictiony buzz to it...with the powers and stuff. Let me know whatcha think! PEACE :)****___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________**

**WHERE'S MY DELINQUIENT?**

**Courtney**

"Thanks for the night out, Duncan," I said. I snuggled into his arm as we walked across an alleyway to his bright red motorcycle.

"Sure thing, babe." He snaked his arm around my waist and kissed my head. "Glad you had fun." We had gone to a new fancy Mexican restaurant and had had a couple drinks at the bar. The whole time he would just gaze at me and tell me how hot I was.

I flushed as we walked, approaching the bike. Tee hee. He thought I was pretty.

Without warning, he picked me up around the waist as set me on the back of The Beast (that's what he named it – silly, I know).

I giggled as I put my arms around his torso, interlocking my fingers and pressing into his warm back. I inhaled deeply as he kicked the bike to a start, starting off toward my house. While we drove, I was putting thought into what I would say when my parents asked where I had been tonight. Okay, yeah, I wasn't supposed to be out with Duncan. Well, my mother was okay with him...sorta...just not my father. He always ranted around whenever he found out I had a text or e-mail from my delinquent boyfriend. He was always a big, bald tornado of mean whenever I even said the word _Duncan _– Even if I was saying _Dunkin' Donuts _or _Duncan __Hines. _

My hands started to get hot as I thought of my father – a mean, mean businessman. The way he went on about Duncan being a devil straight from hell drove me nuts! My hands turned an illuminating, bright orange as my anger towards my father deepened. I should be able to make my own choices! He didn't know Duncan! The most time he's spent with him is when he was yelling at him. God, seeing Daddy yell at him was awful. At least Duncan would ignore him and look indifferent about the whole argument.

I looked around Duncan to watch the road in front of us. That's when I realized I was burning holes through Duncan's shirt. I gasped, trying to settle my anger.

Duncan grunted as if he were uncomfortable and made a hissing sound. Then he glanced down at my hands and yelped, swerving in and out of our lane. "Ow! Jesus, Courtney! Cut it out!"

I released my grip around his waist, still pressing myself against his back to keep from falling off the bike and becoming roadkill. "Sorry, sorry! I can't help it!" I shook my hands and tried to think about something else. "Sorry!"

"Stop thinking about your dad," he muttered, straightening out the bike. He scratched where I had burned him with one hand.

Hmm. I frowned. He totally read me like a book. I stared at my hands while I thought about the way Duncan understood me, watching them slowly return to their normal color. I sighed in relief and wrapped my arms around Duncan again. I really needed to learn more control with my fire-using ability. My hands burst into flames whenever I get angry enough. When Dad got angry about Duncan, I would often ignore him or simply tune him out, like Duncan did, just to keep my powers hidden from him. Duncan was the only one who knew what I could do, how powerful I was. But my _dad? _No. I could never tell him. He'd think I was a freak and have me admitted. I growled silently to myself. "He'd think I was a freak," I whispered angrily, fire licking its way out between my lips.

"Princess?" Duncan asked over the roar of the bike.

I snapped out of my thoughts. "Yes?"

He was quiet for a moment. "Nothin'."

I was about to demand what he was going to say when he pulled up by my house, behind a big, leafy hedge. He made sure no one inside the house could see us, then he jumped off the bike and helped me down. He bent down and kissed my lips softly. "You should get inside before they lock you up in your room and throw away the key."

I poked my still-warm fingers through the five holes in his skull tee. "Sorry about...that."

"I got a million more," he said with a shrug and a lazy smile. Then he turned serious. "You really gotta learn how to control that."

I shook my head. "I don't know how," I said sadly. "I don't know anybody else with my powers...how am I supposed to learn about it?"

He shrugged again. "I dunno."

I rolled my eyes dramatically. "Thanks for your help." I sighed and looked everywhere but his face.

"Hey," he said, grabbing my chin and pulling my face up to his. He kissed my tenderly, warm and nice. He pulled back an inch and said, "I dunno how you'll do it, but you'll figure it out, like you always do."

I smiled and pulled him in for a hug, inhaling deeply – I just _love _the way he smells. "I wish we could stay like this forever."

He pecked my head. "But, seriously. You should get inside before they freak or even find us out here."

I sighed, defeated. "Okay." I slowly pulled my hand out of his and started stomping toward the edge of the driveway.

"See you tomorrow?"

I turned but continued to walk backwards. "Definitely." I spun around to sprint for the house when I turned back. "Oh, and Duncan?"

He picked up his bright alien-green helmet and slipped it on. "Yeah?"

"What was it you were going to say to me?"

"When?"

"Right before we got here."

He pulled off his helmet, raking his hand through his hair – a sign of him being nervous. "Nothin'."

"Don't gimme _that _again," I groaned, stomping back over to him. "_Tell _me."

He smiled, glancing away. "I just wanted to make sure you knew I loved you, that's all."

I grinned, my hand jumping up for my heart. "_Aaw._" I grabbed him and squeezed him again. "I love you, too."

He kissed my forehead, and all but pushed me back in front of my house. He said good-bye and sped off down the street on his hot, sexy little motorcycle.

I fingered the keys in my pocket, pulling them out and unlocking the front door. When I got inside, the lights were off. "Mom?" I called. "Dad? You home? I just went to–"

"I know where you were," a voice cut me off from the darkness.

I ran my hands along the wall, finding the switch. I nearly jumped out of my skin when Daddy was standing not six feet from me, scowling from a big armchair. "Oh!" I gasped. "Daddy, you scared me."

"And _you _scare _me._" He stood and glared down at me. "I thought I told you I didn't want you hanging around the maniac!"

My cheeks got hot as he mentioned Duncan like that. "You don't know anything about him."

He scoffed. "Really? And what do _you _know about him?" he asked tauntingly.

I scoffed back. "A hell of a lot more than you!" I tried to calm myself down. My hands were starting to get warm, and my fear of him discovering my secret just stressed me out even more. I shook my head, trying to clear the cloud of anger and frustration that was fogging up my brain and sanity. "I don't want to talk about this." I turned for the stairs, grabbing the rail, but Daddy grabbed my arm.

"Oh, no, no, no, no, young lady. I don't think so. We're not through here."

"Daddy, I _really _need to go upstairs!"

"Why?" he demanded. "So you can lock the door, sneak out your window, and go party all night with that lunatic? _Absolutely not!_"

I pulled my arm away, breathing deeply. "You'll never understand him." Small flames slipped out of my lips, but he didn't seem to notice.

Mom peered at us from around the corner to the kitchen with curious, guarded eyes. I ignored her. But, maybe if I focused more on her, the anger welling up in my hands would slither away. I looked around Dad to meet her eyes, sending her a _Help Me! _message through mine. When she shook her head and ducked back into the breakfast nook, I–

"What's there to understand?" Dad barked. "Why he turned into such an awful criminal of rebellion?"

My hands got hotter. "Don't say that. You don't know _anything _about him!" I yelled, repeating myself. "And don't say that I don't, either, because I bet I understand him even more than he understands himself!"

"Right." He clicked his tongue. "He needs a _big brain_ to understand a complicated man like himself..."

That did it. The keys that were balled up in my fist melted to a water-like, brass-colored liquid, seeping out from between my fingers. My hands were glowing bright orange again, sparking, ready to burst into flames any minute...no, _second. _Heck, I _wanted _them to flame up! I wanted to kick some ass.

Daddy's eyes were dragged from my face to my hands. He gasped, yelping when he fell backwards over the coffee table. "Wha?! What the hell?!"

I looked at him, eyes wide. I hadn't intended for him to see that. I shook my hands, turning around. I thought about Duncan again. That always calmed me down. I thought about the way I felt when he kissed me, when he touched me...

Second by second, my hands started to let the fire bleed out of them. I spun back around when they were a normal color again.

Daddy was staring, gaping, mouth a gate.

"Uuhm..." I rubbed my elbow, biting my lip. "Sorry. That usually happens when I get upset."

"Then how come it's never happened before?" His words slurred as he started to fall back onto the floor. His eyes rolled back in his head, and down he fell.

I rushed over to him immediately, grabbing his hand. "Daddy? Daddy, are you okay?" Though I kind of hated him, he was still my father. The man who's always provided for me, been there to play the role of Dad.

Mom rushed out when she heard the thud. "What happened?"

She kneeled down next to me, touching his face. "Oh my!"

"He's just passed out, Mom," I sighed. "No biggie."

"Yes, but what knocked him out? He can yell for hours without breaking a sweat." She brushed her graying brown hair out of her face, pulling her blue robe tighter around her body.

I can't believe I'm doing this. Seven years of secrecy, down the toilet. I sighed heavily, meeting Mom's eyes. "This." With that one word, I snapped my fingers. It sparked like a match and instantly lit the tip of my index finger with a small flame.

She gasped and gaped at it, as Daddy had done. "Bu... But _how?_" She grabbed my arm, pulling my hand closer.

"Careful, Mom!" I let go of my relationship to fire for a second to turn out the flame. It vanished without a trace of it's presence ever being there. I laughed shortly. "You almost set yourself on fire."

"Impossible," she whispered. Her head snapped up and she stared at me expectantly. "Do it again."

I took my hand back. "Okay, okay. As long as you promise not to almost burn yourself, this time."

"Please?"

I nodded, snapping my fingers and lighting one up again.

She stared for a long few moments. I rolled my eyes, glancing around the room. "Impossible" she breathed again.

"Mom?" She started falling back onto Dad. I shut off my flame to catch her before she landed on his face and broke his nose.

Well, this evening didn't exactly go as planned.

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**Okley dokely....WHAT'D YA THINK?! REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW!!! Don't forget your favorite part!!! EEEEEK!**


	2. Chapter 2

**HEY-YO! Just warnin' ya; this chapter might be a little slow. OHMYGOSH, I had TOTAL writers block and couldn't think of ANYTHING to type till last night! UGH! I DO NOT own ****TDI of any of the TDI characters! PEACE!****__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________**

I sighed as I filled a pot with water in the kitchen.

Mom and Daddy were still passed out, cuddling. Instead of putting the pot of water on the stove, I put it over my hand. Hey, saved me a trip to the other side of the kitchen. Besides, I never got to use my powers at home. So while my parents are out, why not?

I let the fire roll through my arm down to my left hand, it snapping into a giant flame. I laughed. Seeing my hand and fingers on fire always made me giggly.

It wasn't going to take as long as it would on the stove, but I was still going to be standing there a minute. So I used my brain to reach over to the phone hanging on the wall and picked it up, it floating up to my ear.

I thought Duncan's home number and my brain punched it in. Telekinesis rocks.

"Hello?" Duncan's sister, Dana, answered the phone.

"Hey, Dana," I said when the water started to boil. I walked over to the stove and set the pot down, turning on a burner, shutting off my fiery hand so I could grab the pack of pasta from the pantry. All the while the phone was following me around, an inch from my ear. "Can I talk to Duncan?" I grabbed a big spoon and set it in the pot, using my mind to stir it. I grinned while I spun my finger around in a tiny circle, making the spoon spin the noodles around. Okay, so the pros of having powers were much greater than the cons.

Dana was silent for a moment. "Isn't he with you?"

I dropped my finger, the spoon halting in the pot, water sloshing out. "No. He went home."

"Oh," she said. "Well...maybe he stopped and got something to eat."

I shook my head all alone in the kitchen. "No. We went out and ate. You _sure_ he isn't there?" Though I try to treat her like an adult, 14-year-olds can't be trusted 100 percent of the time...

"Yeah. He's not here."

I was taking short, shallow breaths. Okay. I was starting to panic. "Wait," I said. "Maybe he _did _stop. Like...maybe he needed gas! That's it. He probably needed gas."

"Oh, he always has enough gas," she muttered. "Well, I'll give him a call on his cell."

I started talking before she finished. "That's okay. I'll do it."

"Okay," she replied slowly. "I should probably let my mom know he's not with you anymore, though."

"Oh, don't bother Sheri," I said. Why involve Duncan's mother? She'd probably just get worked up over nothing. "But I'll let you know if I hear anything, okay?"

She sighed, as if unsure. "Um, okay, I guess."

"Great, bye." I hung up before she completed her sentence. I slammed the phone back down on the base with my powers as I drained the pasta. I had it float back over to me, then I grabbed it and dialed Duncan's cell phone number.

It went straight to his chipper, badass voicemail. "Hey, it's Duncan. Guess I don't have my phone right now... Either that, or I was too lazy to charge it and it went dead in my pants. Anyways, leave a message and I'll try to call ya back." Beep.

I tried to even my voice out as best as possible. "D-Duncan, it's me. Dana and I were just wondering why you weren't home yet. Yeah, I called Dana." I sighed. "I know, she'll probably freak out your mom, but you're starting to worry me. So please call us both when you get this, which'll hopefully be soon since–"

It beeped and cut out, saying "End of message. To page this person, press 5 now."

I sighed again, grabbing the phone (with my hand this time) and hanging it up. I stood still in the middle of the kitchen for a moment. Okay. His phone is either off or...dead in his pants. He's not home yet when he should be. Well, maybe he's just getting gas like I thought, and maybe he just doesn't have his cell with him.

Hmm. I frowned, pouring a big can of red sauce into the bowl with the spaghetti, mixing it up.

Mom groaned from the entryway, a groan by Daddy following.

"Ugh...what are we doing on the floor?" Mom asked in a daze.

Dad sat up, and I set down the bowl of noodles to go help them up. I sighed internally. Oh, well. Using my powers in the house was fun while it lasted.

"Here," I said, holding my hand out to help him up.

He looked at me in horror and gasped, shakily standing and backing away. "Get away from me! You freak! Stay back!" See? What'd I tell ya?

I laughed nonchalantly. "Daddy, uh, what are you talking about?"

Mom ran over and put her arms around him. "You know what he's talking about! The fire! The fire you can make with your hands! How do you do that?! Does it hurt?"

I stared at them in faux shock. "Fire? From my hands? Okay, you guys must've had some pretty trippy dreams, 'cause I have no clue what you're talking about."

They kept looking back and forth from me to each other. "Bu- But what about your sparky hands?" Daddy asked, dumbfounded.

I rolled my eyes and looked at them like they were idiots. If only the knew. I held my hands up and looked at them. "'Sparky?' Yeah, here's a way to describe my hands: skin. There, all better. Who wants dinner?" I spun and skipped to the table, Mom following close behind.

"But...remember?" she breathed. "You snapped your fingers and then you had fire on the tip of your..." She trailed off, grabbing my hand and examining it. "It was impossible."

I laughed. "Okay, seriously, Mom. Chill." I pulled my hand back. "Chill."

She sighed, rubbing the side of her neck. "Well, maybe it _was _a dream." She shrugged. "I mean, that's kinda silly; fire on your hand without even burning it? Please," she chuckled.

Dad still didn't look convinced. "I'm not so sure, Letta," he grumbled, keeping his distance from me. "I _know _what I saw, and that was _not _a dream."

They sat down at the big dining room table in the dark red room, and I set their plates in from of them. "You guys are being silly. It was just a dream. Really. I have dreams like that all the time."

Mom and Dad looked at each other for a moment. "Yeah," he agreed. "Just a very, very weird dream."

Mom nodded, and I smiled. "Okay," I said. "Then dig in."

It was hard falling asleep last night. I had tried Duncan's cell numerous times but had no luck reaching him. When I had called his house the forth time in that hour (2am), Dana had just yelled at me to get some sleep, and that if Duncan didn't show up that night, he'd probably be back in the morning.

Oh, if he wasn't back by morning, I was going hunting for badasses.

When I woke up and dialed his house, the same thing. "He's still not here, Courtney." It had been his mom, Sheri, this time. She sighed yet acted as if it were no big deal.

"Then where is he?" I demanded sleepily. Without thinking, my powers reached over to my hairbrush and picked it up, bringing it over to me while I was sitting on my bed, worrying. "He should be back by now. Why hasn't he called? Is he–"

"Courtney, sweetie," Sheri said. "This has happened many, many times before. He disappears for a few days, he gets back unscathed, and is just indifferent about it as if it never happened."

I frowned. My brush was yanking on my hair robotically while I was painting my nails a deep blue. I didn't wanna think about Duncan leaving and not even mentioning anything to me or his family.

"Don't worry, honey." I had forgotten Sheri was still on the phone tucked under my ear. "I'm sure he's fine."

I sighed heavily. "Thanks, Sheri. Let me know if you hear anything."

"You too, bye."

I hung up the phone and whipped it across the room with my invisible mind-hands in utter frustration. It hit the wall and clattered to the ground.

"Courtney, what was that?" Mom called up.

"Nothing," I replied. "Sorry." I closed up my nail polish and had it float over to my desk, same with my brush. I chuckled at myself. Wow. I had never really used powers in the house since last night. Now I'm just doing it will-nilly like I've been doing it forever.

I'll never forget when I first got my powers...

I was 10 years old, attending a very boring piano lesson. I had taken my usual spot and watched the teacher anxiously. I wanted her to get on with it and finish it up.

"Hello," she said breezily, eyes closed as she danced in front of her class of 7. Her waist-length honey hair twirled around her and her flowy hot pink summer dress spun like her hair.

"Good afternoon, Miss Autumn," the classed chorused.

"Welcome back." She stopped in front of the big black piano and flipped through a song book. "Today we are going to practice the Star Spangled Banner. Any volunteers?"

"Oooh, ooh! Miss Autumn! Over here!" a blonde-haired boy in a blue blazer said. His hair was coiffed and styled to perfection. I mean, it's not like I wasn't. My mother had dressed me in the most horrid "appropriate" dresses. You know, the ones with the big bows and poofy skirts. Please, I was 10.

"Mathew," Miss Autumn had called, pointing to him. "Thank you very much. Why don't you come up and try it out?" Her eyes went blank when he sat down at the bench in front of the instrument. She turned spacily to me and stared.

I started to shrink down into my seat, feeling self-conscious.

She shook her head once and went back to smiling at Mathew. "Now, you know the notes, just put 'em together and play what feels right." She glanced at me again. fascination pouring out of every feature in her face. "Courtney? Can you assist me with something in the back, please?"

Everyone turned to glance at me, and I blushed. "Sure," I squeaked, hesitatingly standing and following the teacher to the back. I was wondering the whole 6 second walk if she was going to sexually abuse me. My mother had warned me not to go off with strangers, but this was my piano teacher – I had known her for two years.

Miss Autumn pushed open the door to the back of her lesson room, grinning at me as I stepped inside. She quickly locked it once it was closed and scrambled around the room, ruffling up the books on the bookshelves.

"Uuuhm..." I looked at her uneasily. "May I help you find something?"

"Courtney, babe, you can help me by just standing right there." She grabbed my arms and pushed me into the center of a bright white circle painted on the floor.

I looked down and gulped. My temper spiked then, and all the manners Mom had taught me scurried away. "Okay, what the _heck _is going on here?" I had demanded. "Why do you have me locked in a dark room and in the middle of a big creepy circle? What are you planning on doing to me? My mom's a lawyer, and–"

She cut me off by placing two fingers on my lips. "Hush, dear. The Gods have alerted me that it's your time."

My eyes widened. "Am I _dying?!_"

She laughed, grabbing a book off the shelf closest to me and flipping through it. "Of course not." Her eyes brightened when she landed on a certain page. "Excellent."

_"What is going on?!" _I shrieked, sprinting out of the circle and bolting for the door. Dang. The locks were too high. I turned to face her. "Do you do this to all your students?"

She laughed again. "No, dear. Now get inside the line." She pointed sharply at the circle on the ground.

"I don't want to."

"Now," she hissed.

"Something freaky better not happen to me," I said bitterly, stomping into the circle.

"I have to transfer energy into you," she murmured, standing before me with a book in her hands. "Avaterion Ishakavique Domastue!"

Little sparkles danced around me. At first, I thought I was my eyes playing tricks on me, but it _had_ to be something supernatural.

"What the..." I gaped all around me as the sparks grew closer. I looked over and saw Miss Autumn on the floor, sobbing. "Oh my gosh, what are you–"

"Stop!" She held her hand up to stop me. "Stay in the line! But listen!" She inched closer to me while I stayed put. She grabbed my dress and looked into my eyes fiercefully. The sparks got brighter, surrounding us in while light. "You must not misuse your powers as I have!"

"Powers?! What–" My mouth dropped open when a gaping black hole appeared in the floor behind her, terrible winds stirring up the air in the stuffy room, papers and light objects flying everywhere.

I held my dress down as the wind grew stronger, the light growing brighter. My hands had started to burn and turn yellow. I held them out in front of me and gasped. "Gah! What's going on?!"

The black hole was sucking Miss Autumn back, her clawing at the ground and grabbing onto random things to try and stay put.

The winds increased, pulling her further backwards.

"Miss Autumn!" I shouted, reaching out for her.

"The circle!" she screamed. "Stay in the circle!" Her face crumpled as the winds further blew her back, her feet and legs falling into it.

"No!" I could barely see her anymore; the lights had grown so bright and clear. My hands were now bright orange and my head tingled. I squinted, trying to spot my teacher. Only her head stuck out, and she gasped before being sucked the rest of the way in. Papers flew around and smacked us in the face, winds growing even stronger than before. I was holding onto a pipe by the window and started crying.

"Don't screw up," was the thing she had screamed before falling into the darkness completely.

"But I..." I trailed off as slumber overcame me, engulfed in that bright, ultra-white shine.

To this day, I still haven't figured out what she had meant.

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**If ya like this chapter, SCREAM IT!!! Don't forget to tell me y'all favorite parts!!! -- sKetchdiva**


	3. Chapter 3

****

HEY-YO! Wow...this third chapter is pretty intense. It may seem slow in the beginning, but it gets better! I DO NOT own TDI or the TDI characters!

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I sighed as I got into my mom's car the next afternoon. Duncan still wasn't home, so I was going to visit his family. Actually, Mom thought I was going to Target. Oh, well. What she doesn't know won't hurt her. I'll still go to Target...just later.

I looked over my shoulder and backed out the driveway carefully, straightening the car and speeding down the street. Of course I wasn't really _speeding_. I was going exactly 25. I rested my elbow on the door and propped my head up, taking a big, drawn-out sigh. What would make Duncan just get up and leave like that? Sure, he's been gone less than 48 hours, but I have a really bad feeling about his disappearance. I drove with one hand as I stared blankly out the windshield.

Maybe I should try calling him again. But is he gone for good? Was I not good enough for him? Did I freak him out too much with my powers? All these questions swarmed around in my head as my mind-hands reached over to my purse on the passenger seat and brought out my phone, setting it in my palm.

I grasped it tightly and flipped it open. No new messages or calls. Damn.

I pressed the 1 and speed-dialed him. Straight to voice mail again. When it beeped, a left a very bitter message. "Duncan Ford Michaels, you better get the hell off your lazy ass and call me already. You're really starting to piss me off. If you don't call I'm going to have to hunt you down, and you know I will." I snapped it shut and tossed it onto the floor.

I was so mad I–

"Whoa!" I gasped when I saw my hands, then sighed and started taking deep breaths. "Duncan was right," I mumbled as they started to dim. "I have go to learn how to control this."

When I pulled up to his house, I smiled at the scenery. Not a place you'd expect a badass to live; there were many potted flowers, the grass was mown neatly, there were little stone animals sitting in the rocks beside the brick path up to the front door. It looked so homey and warm, so welcoming.

I walked up to the door and knocked five times in a little pattern, ringing the bell once after that. I looked up as I waited for someone to answer the door. Above the small patio was a beautiful swirly light fixture that looked to be about 50 years old.

When the door finally swung open, I wasn't surprised to see Dana. "He's not here," she said.

I sighed, barely looking at her. "I know. I, um...like your outfit."

She glanced down at her purple dress and green sweater, then back up to me, raising an eyebrow. "Thanks?"

I stood there awkwardly for a minute, glancing around uneasily.

She pursed her lips. She pulled the door open wider and made a sweeping gesture. "Wanna come in?"

I nodded. "Yeah." I stepped around her into the entryway. Coming in here always jolted me a little. _Definitely _not a place you'd expect a badass to be living. There were decorative chairs and pillows everywhere, giant bookcases lining the walls, along with many (and I mean _many) _photographs and paintings on every flat surface available.

I sniffed and grinned when I smelled Duncan's Mom's famous Choco-Raisin cookies baking in the kitchen. Okay, they weren't _famous, _but in this house they were.

Dana was pulling her long, wavy black hair back into a ponytail in front of a mirror by the door as I breezed into the country-style kitchen in the next room.

"Oh, Courtney!" Sheri set down a sheet of cookies and came over to hug me. "What a nice surprise!"

"Hi, Sheri." I stood back and looked at her. Oh, how I longed for a mother like this; all about family, cooking non-stop, cleaning and spending time with everyone. My mom was certainly the opposite. My whole childhood she had just hired people to do the things that needed to be done. The cooking, the dishes, the laundry, the garden, watching after me. You name it.

The thing that I loved about Sheri was that she was so kind, and never stopped giving. Her golden, graying hair was always brushed neatly and in a loose ponytail at her back, and she was always wearing beautiful, elegant floral skirts that were flared and were layered.

"You look great," I said politely, folding my hands in front of me.

"As do you, dear." She smiled, but it faltered. "He isn't back yet."

"Oh, I know!" I grinned and looked past her to the living room. "I just thought I'd pop in for a visit, see how everything's going."

Her eyes sparkled. "Oh, how thoughtful! Well, don't be generous. Take as many cookies as you like."

I grabbed two of her creations and set them on a napkin, following her out to the living area. "Boys, say hi to Courtney."

Josh and Seth looked up from a boring ol' football game and immediately stood when they spotted me. "Hello, baby." Seth came up and wriggled his brow at me, his shaggy jet-black hair covering his brown eyes.

"Ugh." I scowled at him and wrinkled my nose. "You wish."

Josh got on my other side, making kissie noises. "Give us some sugar, sugar." He had jet black hair, too. Only it was styled more appropriately and was shorter.

"Boys!" exclaimed Sheri. "You know that Courtney is currently seeing your brother. Please! Try not to act perverted around guests!"

"Yeah, _please,_" I agreed when they slumped and plopped back down on the floppy couch. "Aren't you guys a little too old to be acting like stupid high-schoolers?"

"Apparently not," Sheri muttered loudly. "21 and 26, but they still live with their _mother._"

Josh and Seth grinned at each other, giving knuckle-touches.

"And to think, I could've had all girls." Sheri rolled her eyes, walking back into the kitchen.

I kept behind her. "Where's Will?"

She groaned, starting the water in the sink angrily. "I do not want to talk about him. He is an ass, and I don't even want to hear his name."

"Oooh, I hope I didn't come at a bad time," I whined, rubbing my forehead. Well, it wasn't too big pf a problem. Sheri and her husband often got into regular fights.

"Oh, no, dear, not at all." She grabbed my hand and patted it reassuringly. "Don't worry about it. I'm sure he'll accept that I was right sooner or later, as he always does."

I laughed. "Always."

She laughed along with me, only for it to be interrupted by Dana calling from the front door. "Later, Mom. Be back by nine."

Sheri and I looked around the wall leading to the entryway just when Dana slammed it, the little hanging decoration saying HOME SWEET HOME by the door shaking and fall to the ground.

"Oooh," Sheri grumbled, stomping over and picking it up.

I stared at the door then peeked out the window. "What was that all about?"

"Oh, she's got something secretive going on," she replied, placing the decoration back on its nail. "Hell, what did I expect? All my kids have been badasses since they were born."

I laughed hard at that. "Tell me about it. I'm dating one." Then I thought about what she had been saying about Dana. "So, you don't know where she's going?"

Sheri shook her head. "She won't tell me. It could be a date, meeting up with a friend, sneaking off to the stripper club and–"

"I don't think she'd go that far, Sheri," I interrupted. I didn't want to think about Dana pole-dancing. _Ew._

Seth came in and eyed me up and down, stopping intentionally at my chest. He leaned casually against the wall and licked his lips. I snorted. "Taken," I reminded him.

"Not for long." He smirked. How did these Michaels boys do that?

"What do you mean?"

"I _mean, _that if Duncan never comes back, you'll be mine."

I froze. "Wh- Whadda you mean 'if he never comes back'? Do...do you know something we don't?"

He shrugged, and my hands started to tremble. "Dunno. But I'm pretty sure he's dead. Probly got snagged by some gang-bangers lookin' for a fight."  
I scowled deeply at him. "Don't say that. He's fine."

"How do you know that for _sure?_" he asked, staring at me questioningly.

Fire was working it's way through my lips. "I–I just do, alright?" Did Seth possibly have anything to do with Duncan diappearing? No, that's impossible. But what if it isn't? What if he wanted me so bad, he'd kill Duncan just to do it? Suddenly, I wanted to bad to sock him in the face. I mean, Duncan's gone, I'm obviously upset, and he tells me he's dead. What a great freggin' big brother.

"Seth, I think it's time for you to leave the room," Sheri hinted. She didn't want to have this conversation just as much as I did.

"Just saying he's probly as good as dead." He slowly walked past me to the stairs. "Just lettin' ya know, Princess." Then out of the blue, he grabbed my butt and squeezed it.

I gasped, heat burning in my hands, and I lunged for him.

"Oh my god!" Sheri was squealing as I wrestled him to the ground. It wasn't hard. These powers gave me extra strength when they were activated. And it was easier trying to hurt someone you didn't consider family or a friend.

My hands twitched and quickly snapped into two hand-shaped flames. I lifted up my arm to punch him, but he shifted away quickly so I couldn't get a good land on him. I aimed for his face over and over and over. I was just making burnt spots on the Michaels' carpet.

He shoved me off and started crawling away, but I grabbed his leg and pulled him back, swiping at his calf repeatedly, making burning nail marks through his jeans into his skin.

Out of nowhere, three sets of hands grabbed me and tugged me back. I wasn't expecting it, so I was taken by total surprise. Sheri, Josh and Will yanked me back and I landed on my butt, still growling at Seth. He was sitting against the wall, shocked. Totally, totally shocked, while Duncan's mom, dad and brother held my arms together at my back and held me in place.

"Courtney!" Sheri shouted. "What the hell is going on?!"

"What the hell's up with your hands?!" Will was barking.

Seth inched along the wall, towards the opening as everyone was questioning me.

"Where do you think you're going, dickwad?!" I picked up a big, red chair cushion and pounded on him with it using my telekinesis.

Everyone gasped behind me. "Are _you _doing that?" Josh yelled excitedly.

"Yes, I'm doing that!" I gasped out. I threw the pillow back against the chair, then flipped it over and neatly put it back in place.

Seth stayed where he was, staring. The other guys were silent, too.

"Oh, Courtney," Sheri chastised. "Why didn't you tell us?"

I sniffed, trying to wiggle away.

"Yo, chill Fire Babe," Josh said. "You're hands are, uh...glowing?"

Then I snapped back into myself. Oh my god. I just tried to kill Duncan's brother. I just showed his whole family my powers. What had I just done? The only people who've known about it are me, Duncan, and Miss Autumn...wherever the hell she might be.

"Let me go," I said. "I'm okay now."

They hesitated, but released their grip on my arms. I took my hands back, spinning around and looking at the three of them apologetically. "I'm so sorry! You weren't supposed to see that!" Then I turned for Seth. "Holy crap, are you okay, Seth?! I'm so sorry! I can't really control it!"

He glared at me for a moment, then grinned, weakly standing. He limped as he approached me. "No wonder Duncan says you're a pain in the ass."

* * *

"Courtney, honey, who else knows about this?"

Sheri was sitting at the kitchen table with me, munching cookies and chit-chatting.

"Duncan," I mumbled. Then I started whining. "I'm so sorry you had to see that. I try to keep it hidden for a reason. I just...can't control it some of the time." I picked up the Minne Mouse mug that had been placed in front of me a moment or so ago and took a sip of the cocoa. "Thanks, Josh."

Josh nodded and sat down next to me, eagerly staring. "So, what other powers do ya have, Fire Babe? You can pick stuff up with your head, right?"

I glared at him. "Yes."

"Holy shit, that'd be awesome."

Sheri and I rolled our eyes in unison. "Do they tire you out? Is there a limit to them?" she asked me.

I shook my head. "I'm not too sure."

"Lemme see it again!" Josh said. Sheri and I both glared at him. "Can you pick that up?" He pointed to a pitcher of fruit punch Kool-Aid on the counter.

I made a face. "You're so stupid. Of course I can." It had already floated over by the time I'd finished talking.

"Holy god, this is sweet."

I groaned, slamming my head down on the table. "God, how can I be so careless?"

"Oh, sweetie, you didn't mean to," Sheri soothed, rubbing my arm gently.

"Did you see how freakin' bad you beat up Seth?" Josh blabbered on. "Dad's still upstairs helping him bandage up his scrapes and burns."

I groaned again, it being muffled by the table. "I'll pay for the damages, Sheri."

"A few dark spots on the carpet aren't that bad," she said. "Josh, could you fetch me the Motrin?"

"Sure," he said, standing. But he hesitated, sitting back down and poking me. "But how 'bout Courtney gets it with her eyes closed?" He chuckled, as if being oh-so clever. His laugh only faded as the bottle of Motrin flew past him and was set down next to Sheri, my face still on my place mat.

"Thank you, dear."

I mumbled something that was supposed to be a thanks. I lifted my head when I heard Seth on the stairs with Will. I hated Will's hairpiece. It was so totally fake. And you could tell it was, too.

He grunted when he saw me looking at him, turning his head and ignoring me. Seth made a _shhah! _noise with every step he took, collapsing in a chair a few over from mine.

"Oh, Seth, you look awful," I whined.

"So do you. You didn't just commit murder, sweetheart."

"I know, but I still hurt you. And I'm sorry." I tried not to look at the gauze on his leg and glanced away uneasily. Then my phone started ringing, making everyone jump. It wasn't my incoming-call-ring, it was my 1-new-text-message ring.

Without thinking, my powers reached over and snagged my phone out of my purse on the floor beside my chair. I grabbed it while it was in the air and flipped it open. "It's from Duncan!" I said excitedly. Everybody crowded around as I clicked on the message, opening it.

_Is this Courtney?_

I frowned and quickly typed back, _Of course it is, silly. Where have you been? I've been worried sick. _I waited a moment for him to reply. When it came in, I turned white.

_Good. Listen up and listen well; we've kidnapped your boyfriend. Yeah, that's right. And we're gonna kill him, too. Don't think that we won't. You got yourself some, what, freaky powers? Why don't you be a good little girl and come down and act all big and brave and save him? It'll be a true test of your power. If you ain't willing to risk ya life, eh. We got a gun pointed at his head right now._

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**Thanks for reading the THRID chapter! Did ya like it? If ya did, SCREAM IT! Don't forget your favorite parts! PEEEEEACE! :) **


	4. Chapter 4

**OHMYGOD, OHMYGOD!!! I DO NOT own TDI or the TDI characters! OH. MY. GOD! So tense! **

* * *

_"_Holy shit!" I screamed, everybody in the room cringing. My hands started shaking and it was hard typing back. _Don't touch him. I'll do whatever you want. Just don't hurt him._

_Good girl, _the mystery man replied. _Just meet me behind_... He typed an address ..._in Arizona and we can make this a party._

_Screw you._

_No lip or I kill him._

My lips started to quiver, and tears were building up in the brims of my eyes. I gulped, then replied, _What time should I be there?_

_1:00._

_You realize I can beat your ass into a quivering puddle of crap, right?_

_Don't worry your pretty little head, Princess. I'll come prepared._

_You better. _He didn't reply after that, so I jumped out of my chair and started screaming. "They're gonna kill Duncan! They're in Arizona! How am I gonna get there that fast?! They wanna kill me! I–"

"Courtney!" Sheri shook my shoulders. "What's happening?"

My breaths were getting shorter and shorter. "Someone's kidnapped Duncan, and they said that if I didn't meet them soon, they'd kill him!"

Everybody gasped and started yelling.

"My poor baby!"

"He's gonna die!"

"Oh, crap!"

Then the phone beeped again, making everybody shut up. I snatched it up and read the new text, sitting back down.

_I'll be sending my new agent, D. You'll be dead in a heartbeat._

I gulped and closed the phone. New agent D? What's that supposed to mean? I glanced up at everybody. They were all shocked and scared, for Duncan _and _me. I stood and crushed myself into Sheri. What was I going to do? How am I going to get to Arizona, kick these guys' butts and save Duncan? Was I going to get there in time? How tough were this guy's "agents", or whatever? I'm only one super-powered teen. How could I stop them myself? Then, a random thought popped into my head. I knew one other super, but I couldn't possibly ask him to help. He was my friend, and friends don't ask each other to die with them. But then I started thinking...what if Chaz _wanted _to die with me? He loved a thrill, and was always up for a challenge.

I quickly pulled away from Sheri and lunged for my phone again, frantically scrolling through the caller ID to find Chaz's number. I hadn't spoken to him in six months, so I was hoping he hadn't moved. He actually _lived _in Arizona, close to the border to Utah. I pressed the green call button and waited anxiously for him to pick up.

I heard a very sleepy, drawn-out yawn, and then an equally sleepy voice said, "Yello?"

"Chaz! Are you awake?" I barked.

He sniffed and didn't say anything for a second. "Well, _now,_ but can I ask who's calling?"

"It's me, Chaz. Courtney."

It sounded like he was scratching his face. Typical, annoying Chaz. Might be a nice friend for Duncan if he gets out of there alive. "Hmm. I know a lot of Courtneys. Might have to jog my memory, sweetheart."

I rolled my eyes. "You know..." I lowered my voice, embarrassed. "...the Courtney with the fire fists."

"Oh!" he chorused. "Courtney, babe! How long's it been, four, five months?"

"Six months, three days, actually," I said. "But nevermind that. I'm gonna ask you to do something that a normal friend wouldn't ask anybody to do."

"We aren't exactly normal," he pointed out. Even over the phone I could imagine the cute expression he was wearing on his face right now. Probably a smirk, wrinkles at the corners of his ooey-gooey chocolate eyes as he smiled. And his brown/blonde hair it probably still shaggy like I remembered it.

I nodded while Duncan's family watched me anxiously. "I know, but listen. My boyfriend disappeared a couple days ago, and we didn't think anything of it, 'cause...well 'cause he's a badass."

He laughed, trying to hold it back but had no success. "Wow, Miss CIT, ruler of the world, dating a _badass? _Nah."

"Shut up and pay attention!" I snapped. "I just got a text from his number from this mystery guy. He has him, and's threatening to kill him if I don't show up. He wants me to meet him in Arizona to try and save him..." I trailed off, not being able to help the couple lone tears that ran down my cheeks.

"No, no, no, Courtney," Chaz soothed when I sobbed once. "Don't cry. So what yer saying is...you need help?"

I nodded though he couldn't see me, just choking out a "Yeah" as I wiped my eyes. I sniffed, and continued. "The guy says he's got people who can kill me 'in a heartbeat'. Special agents and other supers and stuff."

"Where are you?" he asked.

"I'm at my boyfriend's house with his family."

"And yer just talkin' about powers like it's no big deal?" he said incredulously. "Are they retarded?"

Ol' Chaz could always put a smile on my face. That's one of the things I love about him. I grinned, saying, "No. I kinda...let loose a half hour ago. Lost control..."

"Typical, typical, typical," he muttered sarcastically.

If he were here I so would've punched him in the shoulder. "Sooo...can you do it?" I hated asking. But what else was I supposed to do? Leave Duncan to die, or go fight for him and die alone?

"Ya think my powers'll be useful?"

I scoffed. "Hell yes, they'll be useful. You're like one of the most powerful, in-control supers in the world. Having you fight with me would be an _honor._"

"Hmm." He thought for a second. "Okay, I'll do it."

"Oh my god, Chaz, thank you so so so so much! You don't know what I'd do without you! You're the best friend, ever! Thank you so much!" I kept on thanking and thanking him, and we made plans to meet in Phoenix.

"Oh, and Courtney?" he asked right before I hung up.

"Yeah?"

"Can I bring couple friends?"

I grinned again. "The more the merrier. Make sure they see that dying may be a result, here." I didn't wanna have to involve many more of our kind, but if they volunteered...

"Great!" he said enthusiastically. "Meet ya there."

"Great," I copied. "Bye. I'll see–"

"And Court?" he interrupted.

I sighed, though I didn't have any right being impatient with him. He was risking his life to save my boyfriend, after all. "Yeah, Chaz?"

He paused for a moment, and eventually said, "Love you."

That took me by surprise. Where had _that _come from? We haven't seen each other in six months, dated in twenty-three, and he says he _loves _me? "I, um, love you, too, Chazzie." Why not return the gesture? It's just...friend love.

He chuckled. "See ya then, babe. Oh, and happy birthday." The line went dead, so I hung up my phone. Was it the twelfth already? My god.

I glanced back up, and gasped when I saw the four sets of eyes on me. I had pretty much forgotten they were waiting for some kind of relief.

"Well?" Will demanded. "What're you gonna do?"

I was a little insulted. Just because _I'm _the one with the super-powers, I have to go rescue the dude in distress. I gave them all small smiles. "My friend, Chaz and _his_ friends are going to try and help me save Duncan."

They all exchanged looks, nodding, then looked back to me when I continued. "We're going to meet in Phoenix then go on our rendezvous."

"Are they, uh..." Will looked for the right word or way to phrase it. "...gifted...like you?"

I nodded and shoved my phone back in my purse, also wrapping up a couple of those Choco-Raisin cookies in a napkin and shoving them in there. I didn't care if they made the inside crumby. I'd wash it later.

"What can they do?" Josh said with an easy grin on his face. I felt bad for Will and Sheri. All their sons could think about was the powers they wished they had. Honestly, sometimes it's just easier being normal.

"Oh, yeah!" Seth agreed. "Do they have fire powers?"

I shook my head as I retied my sandal straps. "I don't know."

Sheri was sobbing silently, just the intake of breath making a sound. I stood with my purse on my shoulder, and embraced Sheri in another giant hug. "It's gonna be okay, Sheri. Don't worry. It's gonna be okay."

She squeezed me and said, "It's more _you _I'm concerned about," she cried, pushing harder into me.

I frowned, burying my face into her shoulder. What would happen if I couldn't get Duncan out? I would be letting his whole family down. All of the sudden, a random thought popped into my head. Where's Dana? It seemed weird for her to leave before all the drama started like that. Duncan _did _always say she was a drama queen. Of course, he said I was, too.

I said goodbye to the Michaels, jumping back into my mom's car speeding home. Okay, I actually sped this time. I didn't care which cops saw or how many tickets I got. I needed to get home asap and pack. I flew past stop signs, not even bothering to check if there were any oncoming cars. I wouldn't get that scraped up, anyway. It _would _delay me, though, so I should stop being stupid and be safe.

When I pulled into my driveway, I nearly forgot to put the car in park before jumping out and running inside. But I did, _then_ jumped out and ran inside, leaving the door wide open and flying up the stairs.

"Courtney!" my mom snapped. Daddy was at work, so she had been alone in the house when I blew through. "What in the name of God do you think you're doing, scaring me like that?"

I couldn't say anything to her yet. I'd have to wait till I was fully packed and right by the door. I didn't know if I was saying goodbye or goodbye forever. There was a big difference. I threw open my closet door and whipped out a couple of purple suitcases, tossing a few day's worth of underwear and socks in the bottom of the big one. I grabbed some random jeans and tops, dropping them on top. I guessed I wasn't going to want to lug around the suitcases after a minute, so I put them back, grabbing a big, purple backpack instead. I shoved the clothes in the bottom of the bag, hoping Mom would just stay downstairs and I could sneak past her in a minute. Nope. Guess the universe just didn't want me to win, today.

Mom was charging up the stairs. "Courtney? Courtney Marie Castillo! I demand to know what's going on this instant!"

I tripped over to my door and slammed it, locking the handle just before she turned it. She banged and shouted as I packed the more important things: my grandmother's lucky necklace she had given me right before she died when I was seven, two photos (one of my family and one of Duncan's), and last but not least, the skull Duncan had carved for me on the island. I held it tight for a minute, then set it in the backpack, pushing it to the bottom in between clothes. There was no point packing any weapons, I thought. Not like I had any, anyway. I hesitated with the necklace, deciding to put it on instead of packing it.

"Court-NEEEEY!" Mom screamed, grabbing the knob on my door and shaking it.

I sighed, glancing around my room for the last time. Then I cringed. Hopefully it wasn't going to be the last time. I grasped the doorknob and pulled the door open, Mom falling backwards and hitting her head on the railing near the stairs. I gasped, my hand immediately going to my mouth. "Are you okay?!"

She rubbed the hurt spot angrily, baring her teeth and slowly standing up. She tried to look fierce, but having her be four inches shorter than me wasn't helping. "What...the hell...is going on?!"

I took a deep breath and pushed past her, down the light carpeted stairs. "I have to go."

She chased after me to the first floor. _"What?! _Where are you going?!_"_

I shook my head, running into the kitchen and shoving some energy bars into the front pocket of my bag. "I just have to be somewhere."

She scoffed at me, hands on her hips. "You can't just up and leave! You're seventeen years old, and I'm still in charge of what you do. You're staying here!"

I looked up at her and remembered what Chaz had said. My head snapped over to the calendar, and indeed, it was the twelfth. "Not anymore."

She grudgingly followed my gaze, gasping when she saw the date. "Oh, my..."

"I'm eighteen today, and you can't hold me back anymore." I shoved about five bottles of water in the pack, too, barely being able to zip it. I had to leave it a couple inches open.

Mom was staring after me as I ran to the front door, exchanging my wedges for some durable tennies. Then she sprinted up and caught my arm. "Courtney! Please don't leave! At least without telling me where you're going, first!"

I sighed again, standing and pulling her in for a quick hug. "I have to go save someone." I bolted out the front door, sliding over the hood of the car. I ran around the front of the house, relieved that Mom wasn't trying to follow me. I got about fifteen houses away, then called information to get a taxi to drive me to the airport.

When I got there, I went to baggage and gained a funny story to tell my kids someday. They were going through my bag when they found that wooden skull. I just blushed. "My, uh...boyfriend made it for me." They shrugged, continuing to check my stuff. Good thing I hadn't brought any weapons. I hadn't've even thought about the metal detectors here. Oooh. Close one. This was certainly going to be an experience I'd never forget.

* * *

**WOW. o_0 REVIEW!!!! REVIEW!!!! REVIEW!!!! DO IT NOW!!! PEACE TO INFINITY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!**


	5. Chapter 5

**HEAR YE, HEAR YE!! THIS IS AN AWESOME CHAPTER! And the longest! I DO NOT OWN TDI OR ANY OF THE TDI CHARACTERS! PEACE**

* * *

Duncan

"Uuuugh." I squeezed my eyes shut, groaning. I opened one eye, squinting through the bright light overhead. I blinked hard a few times, trying to get my eyes to adjust. When they did, I realized I was in a small, bright white room. I glanced around, evaluating the situation... How the hell did I even get here? I looked down, and my feet weren't touching the floor. There were heavy duty chains around my ankles. You know, like the ones you see in action movies, where the villains trap the heroes? Then I looked up. There were chains up there around my wrists, too. God damn it. I still couldn't wrap my brain around the whole _getting here _process. The last thing I remember, I was driving home after this date Princess and I went on. Then somebody – about seven somebodies – jumped outta nowhere and tackled me.

"Hi."

I jolted in the chains that were keeping me strapped to the wall, snapping my head over to the right. There were two people pinned to the wall next to me, and I immediately felt stupid for not noticing them before.

A tall, pale girl with a messy honey-colored pony tail smiled at me. "Glad to see you're finally awake." Her blue and red shirt was ripped and stretched near the bottom, her capris looking as if they'd suffered the same abuse.

On the other side of her, was a dude a few years older than me, with dark brown hair and bright green eyes. "Yeah. We were starting to think you were dead, you were out so long." He had a loose button-down shirt that matched his eyes, a tattered white under-shirt underneath that.

I blinked at them. "Where am I?" I asked blankly.

The chick shrugged. "They keep calling this place 'Z.H.Q.'."

"Who's 'they'?"

"Mike and Oscar," the guy said, straining to look around the girl. "Oscars a big guy, so ya don't wanna get on his bad side."

I shook my head. "Okay, this is _really _confusing. Two more questions: Who are you, and how long was I out?"

Chicky next to me smiled. "That's easy. I'm Brandi, and that's Jeremy." She jerked her head over in the dude's direction, him smirking. "And you've been out for almost seventy-two hours."

I scowled and looked ahead of me. There was a big mirror across the room. Probably two-way. Typical. I've been in tougher situations, though. "Why are we hanging on the wall?"

Brandi and Jer exchanged funny looks of discomfort.

"What?" I demanded.

He shrugged at her. "They were just in here a minute ago. Just tell him. He'll end up figuring it out himself, anyways."

Brandi sighed, looking at me seriously. "I'll just go out on a limb here and say that you have a girlfriend with powers, right?"

I stiffened. Only Courtney and I knew about that. What, does the whole freaking world know now? "Who wants to know?" I asked slyly.

She rolled her eyes. "You don't have to keep it a secret for now. Everybody knows, here." She glanced at Jer. "My boyfriend's a super and so is Jeremy's wife."

I stared at them like a dumbstruck little kid. "You're kidding."

"Nope," said Jer. "That's why we're here."

"'Cause we're hooked up with people with powers?" I frowned. "Why?"

Brandi stared at me intensely. "They captured us to lour the supers here." She looked down, trying to move her legs but only had little success. Our hands were over our heads, and I was _very _uncomfortable. "Zeke wants the supers so he can take control of them and...take over the world, or something," she mumbled.

"Zeke?"

"Zeke is the leader of this god awful thing," Jer spat, clearly pissed about this guy. "He has a whole evil legion of supers and real buff humans to try and catch all the supers in the world."

I scoffed. "This dude's just wastin' his time. The supers will end up kicking his ass, he'll lose miserably, yaddah yaddah."

"Oh, no, Duncan," Brandi said. "He's too powerful now. Before, he _should've _lost. But now that he's got so many supers under his mind-control, I'm not so sure about the 'supers kick his ass' part."

Staring at her questioningly, I cocked my head to one side. "I never told you my name."

Then Jer piped in. "You didn't have to. Mike and Oscar have been saying it non-stop."

My frown deepened. "Why?"

"How am I supposed to know?"

I slumped and huffed. "We gotta figure out how the hell we're gonna get outta here." I started twisting and jerking in my restraints, trying to at least pull them out of the wall so I'd be on the ground.

A small white speaker in the corner of the ceiling screeched, making the three of us cringe. "Ah, ah, ah, Duncan," a man said. "You can't leave – your girlfriends not here yet."

I froze, swinging back against the wall. "Courtney," I breathed, stunned. Then I totally realized what was going on here. These guys Zeke, Mike and Oscar were louring the supers to their twisted little hellhole by kidnapping their boyfriends or wives and threatening them. I could only imagine how this would play out...and it wasn't pretty. Courtney couldn't come for me! She'd die trying to get me out of here, or get pulled under Zeke's evil wing.

"That's Mike," Brandi whispered.

"Silence!" Mike commanded over the intercom. "I can see everything you do in there!"

"Why, 'cause of the two-way mirror?" I guessed.

"Well, that's where Oscar is."

A light flicked on behind the mirror, revealing the big, scary guy who was watching us from behind it. He was _he-uge! _He was indeed buff. He scowled at us evilly, tugging on the pull-cord in his hand to shut the light back off.

"_I _am in the john," Mike continued. "But I can see everything."

I was confused again. "Huh?"

He snorted in frustration, and Brandi said, "He can see through walls and stuff."

Well, that made me feel a little better. You know, maybe this is all just some stupid ass dream. Yeah, that's it. It's a dream, and I'm asleep in my bed right now...having this really real dream.

"As I was saying..." Mike was still going on, and we heard a toilet flush over the speaker. "...your efforts are useless. D will be watching your every move from now on. D, please?"

Just then, the ultra-white door by the mirror was kicked open, someone in a black and purple jumpsuit stepping in. She was wearing a mask that made me think of Batwoman. And, though I probably shouldn't've been thinking this, she had a great figure. It was hard not drooling over her legs right then and there.

She stood on front of us, glaring and glancing between us three.

"D, I presume?" I looked at her, arching a brow and smirking at her.

She nodded. "Be quiet."

"Why, are you my mother now?" I chuckled, only to gasp out in pain when she flung her hand in my direction, this big, hard block hitting me in the stomach... _Ouch._ Of course, I didn't see the block. It was invisible. Stupid supers and their stupid powers.

"That's why." She smirked, spinning and marching back over to the door, staring at us seriously.

I bit my lip as Brandi and Jeremy looked at me with compassion, eyes wide. "You don't wanna mess with her," Brandi mouthed.

Super. Literally.

**Courtney**

I threw my arms around Chaz as soon as I was close enough. He squeezed me, saying, "Great to see ya again, darlin'."

I sighed into him, holding that pose there for ten more seconds. He felt the same as he had before he left for AZ; soft, yet muscular and tall. He was a good six inches taller than me. We were in an airport in Arizona now, and I was really anxious to meet the friends Chaz had mentioned.

We got into a rental car, grinning and catching up with each other. In a way, I felt bad being happy when Duncan was in danger. But this might be my last chance to really smile before we were both killed. Seriously, why did this have to happen at all? Who was this guy who'd captured Duncan and stolen him away to deep in Arizona?

The thought of Duncan got me to frown again. So I interrupted Chaz's cute story about the Bunch'a Crunch in the movie theatre, saying, "Shouldn't we be, uh...discussing our game plan?"

He glanced over at me and shrugged. "I thought we'd start talking about that kinda stuff when we get Angel and Max."

I slipped and smiled again. "Why are we taking a car when we could've just teleported there?"

He smirked, keeping his eyes on the long stretch of road in front of us. "My powers aren't to be used willy-nilly. I gotta save up my energy for the big rescue-mission."

I nodded, my smile only faltering a little. I looked out the window on my side. "Why are we out in the middle of nowhere?" We had been driving for the last fifteen minutes or so, and I hadn't been paying attention. All I could see were yellow, grassy areas and plains, with cows and horses stashed here and there.

"'Cause the gang wanted to show you what they could do. Without being seen, of course."

I nodded again, resting my elbow on the windowsill.

About five miles later, with no animals or farmers to be seen, we spotted a black Mustang off the side of the road. There was a really skinny, pale girl with dark, dark black hair and a bright pink (and I mean neon) outfit. Even her shoes and nails were pink. Next to her was a guy about Chaz's body-type, only shorter, and he was leaning against the back of the car, smoking.

Chaz parked his car, hopping out and approaching the people, me following. "Hey, Max." He gave a knuckle-touch to the guy, them grinning at each other. "Angel." He grabbed her hand and kissed it, her giggling like crazy.

I felt kinda awkward, just standing there. So I looked at them with kind eyes, and said, "You guys must be Angel and Max. I'm Courtney. S'nice to meet you."

Angel smiled big, reaching out and shaking my hand. "You, too."

Max nodded once. "Yo."

Chaz clapped. "How 'bout ya show Court whatcha got."

Angel's grin spread. "Ooh, my first! Can I try it on you?" she asked me.

"That depends," I said skeptically. "Will it hurt?"

She laughed. "No, silly! Just watch." She stared at me until her eyes went blank, my mind feeling fuzzy.

"What's going–" Then, like someone had flipped a switch, I was running out into the field. I skipped a few times, bringing my hands up to my underarms and bobbing my head. "Bock, bock!" I flapped my arm-wings, sprinting back over to where the three were waiting for me. As fast as it had consumed me, the fog went away, and I snapped back into myself. "Holy crap!"

Angel's eyes went bright again and she laughed. "I know, right?"

"So... What'd you just..._do, _exactly?"

"I call it getting inside someone's head. If I concentrate on a person hard enough, it's like my soul flies into your brain. Thus, allowing me to control what you do, say..."

"Or cluck," Max said from over by Chaz.

I scowled at him jokingly. "Well, Mr. Funny...what can you do?"

"Easy." He dropped his cigarette and crushed the toe of his shoe down onto the burning bud. He looked back up at me, excitement in his features. "Like dinosaurs?"

"Dinosaurs? Why do you..." I trailed off, my head slowly going up and up with every foot Max grew. Before I knew it, he was a hundred feet tall. A T-Rex.

"Oh. My. God," I whispered. He looked down with his big, beady dinosaur eyes and growled at me, my hair flying everywhere. I had to cover my ears, it was so loud. He was all slimey and scaley. It made me want to puke, actually.

And in the blink of an eye, he was human again, smirking at me like I was some girl he was trying to impress.

I smoothed my hair down, still shocked. "S-sh-s...shapeshifter?" I gasped.

He nodded, Angel saying, "You'll get used to it."

"And what can you do, missy?" Max looked at me expectantly, glancing for a second at every part of my body.

Now it was _my _turn to be cool. I grinned evilly, pointing to his pack of smokes he had left of the trunk of the car. "I can do this." I picked up the carton with my mind-hands, swinging it around in the air. "And this." Then, my mind picked him up, sending him up twenty feet.

"Whoa!" he shouted, reaching out and trying to grab his cigarette pack from the air.

Then Angel did something unexpected...at least from me. Her feet lifted off the ground, and she flew up into the air by Max, grasping the pack and shoving it at him. "There! You've got your precious smokes."

"You can _fly _too?" I asked her, setting Max back down a little too hard. He landed on his butt with an _Oof!. _She just nodded, so I continued on with my power show-and-tell. "Oh, and this is my favorite," I said enthusiastically. I concentrated on the burning in my hands, and _BOOM, _there they went. They snapped into the hand-shaped flames, only tingling my skin with its touch.

"Wow," Angel and Max said together.

"I know," I said, shutting them off. Shortly thereafter, we jumped into Chaz's car, leaving the Mustang behind. Oh, well. Not my car. We traveled to Chaz's house, now talking about what we would do and how we would infiltrate this guy's plan...or something. I'm not the greatest spy...undercover agent...whatever.

"Okay." Chaz flipped on a light in his basement, huddling over a table with the three of us. "Max can track down this mystery guy from the number that texted you." He glanced up at me, holding his hand out for the phone.

"Oh!" I grabbed my purse and dug around in it, using my telekinesis to send the phone over.

He grabbed it from the air across the table, handing it to Max. He took the phone with a big smirk on his face, walking over to a computer placed in the middle of a circular desk, sitting and turning it on.

Angel ran over to the big, round desk, unlocking and flinging open a beige filing cabinet. "Hurry up with that address, Max. If anyone can track it, you can."

He smiled at her, appreciating the comment. "Thanks, babe."

I shrugged at Chaz, looking confused. "So, what's going on?"

"Well," he said, putting an arm around my shoulder and pointing to Max. I resisted the urge to throw Chaz's arm off and scold him. Then I thought better of it. He _is _helping me save Duncan. And he _does _know that Duncan's my boyfriend. He's just being friendly. "Max over there is our tech geek. He's gonna track where the message came from using his...uh...tech geek stuff."

Max flipped him off while still staring at the computer screen, typing really fast.

Chaz chuckled. "And after he locates the source, Angel over there is gonna find the blueprint that belongs to the address." He removed his arm from my shoulder and wrapped it around my waist instead. Okay. He's being a little _too _friendly! "After that, we'll check out the schematics and figure out the best way to infiltrate the place."

I nodded, slowly stepping out of his reach, pretending to be interested in this collection of novels on the coffee table close by. I was suddenly wondering why Chaz had said _yes_ to this rescue mission so quickly. Did he want to help me, or _steal _me? Did he think I was going to say, _Oh, Chaz! My hero! You're much better than the idiot of a boy you rescued! If you allow me, I would like to be your girlfriend_, and run off to be with him?

But, Chaz wouldn't, no, _doesn't _think like that. He's too sweet and kind and respectful to women to try and steal me from Duncan.

I turned and smiled sweetly at him, which he returned. "Thank you, Chaz. You don't know how much this means to me." I walked over to him and pulled him in for a hug.

He rested his chin on my head, sighing as he patted my back. "My pleasure, darlin'. Anything for you." Without warning, he grabbed my arms and pulled my face up to his, giving me a hungry, romantic kiss.

* * *

**REVIEW OR I'LL EAT YOU!!! THANKS! PEACE AGAIN! :) Make sure to let me know what I got wrong or missed!**


	6. Chapter 6

**I DO NOT OWN TDI OR ANY OF THE TDI CHARACTERS! What's up?! Been waiting a while for this one... SORRY! WRITER'S BLOCK! It's hard trying to keep up with, like, four different stories. GOD. YOU PEOPLE ARE ANNOYING.**

**___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________**

**Chapter 6**

I gasped, pulling away and stumbling back. "Chaz!!"

He jumped away from me, shocked, swiping an arm across his mouth. "Oh...crap. Courtney, I...I'm sorry."

"Why did you just do that?!" I started dancing around like I had to use the restroom, fanning my face with my hands. "Oh my god, oh my god."

He ran his fingers through his hair nervously. "Uh..."

I stomped in front of him and smacked him right across the face. Then I gasped, stepping back with my hands over my mouth. Did I...did I just _slap _him? Huh.

He rubbed his cheek, glowering at me. "Why...why would you hit me?"

I put my hand up to soothe him, but just glowered back and shoved my hands in the pockets of my purple jacket. "Why would you kiss me? You _know _that I'm in love with Duncan!"

"Oooh." He put his palms out in front of him, shaking his hands, stirring up the air. "Why didn't ya tell me that _before?_"

I wrinkled my nose and scowled. "Wh–_huh? _Why should I have to explain my relationships to you?"

Angel put her hands on our shoulders. "Jeez, guys. What's with all the _why_s?" Chaz and I glared at her, and she shrunk back, flying away like an airborne snail.

"Well, when you hugged me like that at the airport, I thought maybe we'd give it another shot." He touched my arm, and I bitterly jerked away.

"I don't think so. I told you we'd stay friends. What, that isn't good enough?"

"Of course it is."

"Then why are you making moves on me?"

"Guys!" Our heads snapped back to Max, who was trying to break up the scene. He looked back and forth between Chaz and I. "Got it," he announced. Angel flew over to him and set a blueprint on the desk, grinning.

He grinned back, and I wondered briefly if they had a thing.

Chaz sighed angrily, clearly frustrated. "All right. Let's get this party started."

**Duncan**

"Shut...UUUUUUUP!"

Mike was screaming at me for the hundredth (maybe millionth?) time to shut my friggen' pie hole. I didn't care. I wasn't intimidated by this loser. I just kept smirking happily at the dude. "Why?" I asked.

Mike glanced back at that big guy, Oscar. "To hell with you and your stupid questions! You do what we say, or else!"

"Or else wha..." I trailed off as Oscar approached me, cracking his knuckles and getting ready to strike at me. And I was just chained to the wall, with no way to defend myself. He pulled back his arm, gettin' ready to sock me in the face, when I nearly shrieked, "No, no, no! Stop! Fine! I'll shut up!" Sure, that move sounded kinda gay, but I didn't want my pretty face to be all shattered and gross-lookin'.

Oscar stepped back, and Mike got an inch from me. "Next time, I won't be so nice. I might just bring D in here."

I gulped. "You sick son of a bitch." Aw, I couldn't help it. He was just so easy of a target.

He snapped his fingers, and Oscar was there, punching me in the stomach repeatedly with the force of a semi truck. His fists were like stone. Jeez, did this dude ever stop working out?

"Ah! God, stop it!" I pleaded, tears stinging in my eyes from the pain. Okay, I was _sure _I sounded gay now.

"Stop!" Brandi screamed next to me, making Oscar stop using me as a punching bag for a moment. "Don't hurt him! Hurt us."

Jeremy's eyes got wide. "_Brandi,_" he muttered urgently, concerned for his well being and consciousness.

Mike's brown brows pulled up, amused. "Oh, really? Would you like that?"

Brandi nodded. What a brave chick. If anybody was getting beat up in front'a me, I'd just glance away and pretend I wasn't there. "Yes."

_"No!" _Jer horrifyingly looked at Oscar, frowning and shrinking back into the wall.

I sniffed, straightening back out. Blinking a few times, I watched Mike and Oscar nod at each other real quick, then they were off to the door by the mirror.

D ran in right then, grabbing Mike's shirt and jerking him down a few inches so she could talk in his ear. My, Brandi's and Jer's ears perked up, listening hard to hear what she was saying.

Mike put both hands on his head, ruffling up his dark brown hair. I just now noticed he has a red streak on the side. Weird.

Oscar said, "Are you sure?" in a gravely voice that reminded me of Cyborg from Teen Titans, only deeper, to D, and she kicked him in the gut to make him quiet.

"Hell yes I'm sure, you egghead. Now get to it!" She let go of Mike's shirt, him stumbling backwards and starting toward Jeremy. Oscar followed, gripping the chains holding Jer to the wall and ripping them out.

"Hey!" Jer landed on his ass on the cement floor and groaned, Oscar grabbing a fistful of his shirt and lifting him. "What're you doing? Put me down!"

Oscar kneed him in the chin to shut him up, carrying him horizontally through the white door where D stood.

"Guys, help!" he shouted to Brandi and me. I couldn't help but feel sorry for him. Where were they taking him, anyways? Were they gonna torture him? Set him free? Kill him? But better him than me, right?

"Jeremy!" Brandi shrieked. "What did you do with Jeremy?!"

D smirked and looked amused, a look she had clearly adopted from Mike. "Who knows? Okay, I know. But I ain't tellin'."

Brandi kicked and pulled in her restraints. "You can't do this to us! Let us go, or else!"

"Or else what?" D put her hands behind on her hips, pacing in front of the mirror. "You'll scream? I can put a field around you. Problem solved. At least it would keep you quiet."

I snorted. "Who the hell are you, anyway?"

She was taken by surprise at my question. "Well you should know, Duncan. I'm closer than you think."

I cocked my head to the side. "What the _hell _is that supposed to mean?"

She waved a hand in my direction, blowing me off. "Just shut up."

"Like hell I will!"

She glanced over her shoulder and smirked at me. "Seems 'hell' is your favorite word. Funny. It's my brother's, too."

Brandi grumbled to my side. "Knock off the mind games! Just let us go! Why do you even need us here?!"

D accidentally bumped into a little white table under the mirror as she paced, a purple iPod Nano clattering to the floor. "Ugh, crap," she muttered, bending down to pick it up.

"You better let us g–" I glanced down and noticed a small crack in the wall by my ankle chains. Huh? I strained to get a better looked, but D was up too fast. I snapped my head back against the wall. I couldn't let her see what I'd discovered. Hey, that crack might be the only chance I've got at escaping this hellhole. Okay, I say hell a lot. Sue me.

D glanced at a silver clock on the wall and sighed. She put her wristwatch up to her mouth and started talking into it. "Hey, uh, Mike," she whispered. "Need you to come back to room 4." She scoffed harshly when he answered. "Because I said to! Who said you can think for yourself? Right. Nobody! Now get your ass over here!"

Tears streaked across Brandi's cheeks. "Please!" she cried. "Just tell us what you did with Jeremy!" What a drama queen.

I looked at where Oscar had ripped Jeremy's chains from the wall. I looked even closer, and noticed that that's where the crack over by me had come from. It had cut across the wall in an oblong way, going around Brandi and stopping by me. Is it just my imagination, or did the world think I deserved one today?

"Hey!" My eyes shot back over to D, who had yelled, staring at me questioningly.

I kept my gaze glued to her. "So, um...nice, uh, powers. What else can you do? My girlfriend's got some power over fire. And, uh, has telekineses."

She looked at me in annoyed disbelief. Then she smiled smugly. The face reminded me of someone... "Well, I've got my forcefields. Then comes my force_throws, _where I basically shoot a strand of invisible power through the air at something, say, your stomach." I glowered when she mentioned her attempt at crippling me. "And to top it all off, I turn invisible."

I frowned and ran my tongue over my teeth. "Huh."

"S'fun having powers." She kept on smiling evilly, but her eyes were soft and sad, and she mumbled, "But it'd be even more fun if my brother knew. Knew what he was in for, too."

I was confused, and about to pumble the enemy with questions when Mike walked in just then, the door clicking and closing behind him. "Whadda ya want? I'm kinda in the middle of something very, _very _important," he barked impatiently.

D rolled her eyes dramatically. "I gotta pee. Watch the prisoners."

"What?!" He threw up his hands. "Oscar's instigating a_ very_ difficult part of the procedure right now! I left him for _this? _Wait until Zeke hears about the shit you put us through and caused!" He reminded me of Bummer from Stoked, the way he ranted at everybody.

Growling at him, Brandi and I felt a wave of fury in the air when D went transparent, apparently kicking him over and jumping on his back.

"Damn it, D! I hate it when you do that!" Mike was shouting as she yanked back his arm. "Let go!"

"Make me!" we all heard boom through the room, though didn't see anyone say it. Whoa. D's powers are so _awesome. _Too bad Courtney can't do that.

Courtney.

I have to think of a plan to get me and Brandi outta here. Eh, Jer's as good as dead, so I'll leave him out. Maybe, if I can think of a plan and we can escape, we can snag all the people that Brandi said's trapped somewhere in the building. And what about that Zeke guy? What kinda powers does he have?

D finally turned visible when Mike shout out "D IS THE COOLEST PERSON ON THE PLANET!", with a satisfied look on her face. "That's better," she swooned fakely, jumping up and making her way to the side of the room she she could exit and pee.

A loud shriek in agony rang through our ears, Mike shooting back through the door before she could leave.

D glared furiously after him, rolling her eyes again and shoving her purple headphones in the sides of her head, cranking up her iPod's volume.

"That was Jeremy!" Brandi whispered frantically.

I swallowed and nodded, keeping my eyes on D, who was just pacing around, listening to her music. "Listen," I whispered back, someone flipping a switch and my brain glowing with idea. "I have a plan."

Brandi nodded urgently. "Okay. What is it?"

"Keep quiet." I could barely hear my own voice. Y'know, this is just total bullshit. I don't wanna be here. And what the hell was up with Jeremy's scream? Were they torturing him? Killing him? But the perfect escape plan was being formulated in my head – wow. I hadn't even known I knew that word. "Here's what we do. Mike can see through walls, right?"

"Right."

"Then we take out him first, when D over there leaves the room. If we strike her, he'll just find out as soon as we do it, sending in an army of bigass dudes to kick our asses."

"How're we supposed to do that?" she asked, eying D suspiciously. "We're stuck."

"There's a crack." I wiggled my foot around to show her what I meant, feeling the wall give a little when I moved. "If I can get Mike right in front of me, I'll pull free and knock him out."

**Courtney**

I exhaled murderously as I walked beside Chaz through the streets of downtown Phoenix. It was so dirty, and there were little shacks everywhere, with rusted, flat-tired cheap cars in the driveways or hanging onto the street from the sidewalk.

Chaz kept glancing over at me and shaking his head. I couldn't help it if he was pissed off! It's not like I lead him on! Did I? No! That's...that's outrageous. He knew that Duncan was my boyfriend. That's what this whole thing's _about! _He's helping me _save my __boyfriend! _Then he just grabs me and kisses me. What the heck was that about? I mean, it's not like I didn't..._enjoy _it. Sure, it felt wrong and sour since my lips belonged to Duncan, but it had lots of memories flooding back into my head.

_FLASHBACK_

_"Aw, what'd you get me?" I asked him. Chaz was smiling sweetly as I shook the small package and rattled it in my hands._

_"Unh, unh, unh," he chuckled, placing a hand on my arm to stop me. "That's cheating."_

_It was our eight-month anniversary, and he had given me a little present wrapped in the most pretty magenta paper with a light pink bow crowning it. I was just about to turn sixteen, and he had turned seventeen a few months before._

_"So...is this for my birthday, or did you actually remember our little GF BF anniversary?"_

_He chuckled again, his smile crinkling his eyes. "Both. You don't mind if I combine then, do you? I mean, if you want me to, I'll go–"_

_I cut him off when I kissed his cheek. "Chill. I don't mind, really." I grinned as I pulled the ribbon off the small box slowly, sliding my nail under the edge of the wrapping paper to carefully tear it off. I gasped when I reached the silver package inside, my eyes wide with wonder. _"What _did you get me?_" _I choked_ _"It looks so fracking expensive!"_

_He snorted and balled up the paper into a little wad, tossing it in the trashcan next to the park bench we were sitting on. "You haven't even seen it yet, Courtney, jeez. Open it."_

_I bit my lip, flicking the edge of the metal clasp on the front side of the shiny box, the lid popping back and revealing the inside. I gasped again, my hand fluttering up to my chest. "Oh, Chazzie! It's beautiful!" I reached in and snatched the gorgeous gold necklace from the plush pink velvet carefully, it sparkling and shimmering in the sunlight. _

_"Do you like it?" I could barely hear him. I was speechless. The gold necklace was so intricately designed and engraved. It was my name in cursive, chain hooked to the C and the Y. At the very end of the chain, was a thin strip of flat metal, with C + C sketched in elegantly. _

_"Oh my god. Chaz, I love it!" I wrapped him in a giant hug, kissing his cheek over and over. I was only fifteen, so I hadn't gotten into the real making-out stuff yet._

_He laughed as kissed my lips softly. "And I love _you. _I always will. Nobody else."_

_Two weeks later, I grinned as my mom drove me to his house. "Thanks Mom. Won't be long." I jumped out of the still-moving car, sprinting up to Chaz's front door and knocking excitedly, bouncing around. _

_"Why, hello, Courtney," his mother, Laurie Ebony, greeted me, tugging off a couple of blue oven mitts. "How nice to see–"_

_"Is Chaz home?" I asked, peering around her rudely. "I have to tell him something real quick." I squeezed the Green Day tickets in my hand. He was going to be _sooooo _surprised! Green Day is his _favorite _group! _

_"He's actually in the backyard," Mrs. Ebony replied. "You can let yourself in through the–"_

_"Thanks!" I bolted around the side of the house, pushing my white, glittery scarf with stylish, fraying ends over my shoulder to keep from flying off as I ran. I got to the gate and reached beyond the top to grab the latch and push it open. I shoved through, making my way across the trendy boulders they had in their side yard, jumping off one and landing in the grass._

_Chaz was sitting in the garden swing about twenty feet away, talking to someone. _

His little sister, _I thought. He's so sweet and caring. I decided to sneak up on him, and I tiptoed through the wet lawn, not being spotted be either him or his sister. I got to the swing, biting my lip to keep from giggling, and peered around. My face fell, and I dropped the concert tickets. He wasn't talking to his little sister. He wasn't even talking. He was majorly lip-locking with this girl a little older then me, with long platinum hair and a bright blue minidress._

_Her green eyes popped open, and she gawked at me in shock. Chaz paused, following her gaze and slowly turning around. He gasped and immediately stood up. "Courtney, this isn't what it looks like."_

_Tears were welling up in my eyes, so I just shook my head, leaving the tickets in the grass and running as fast as I could back to my mom's car. I didn't care how stupid I looked. I just wanted to get away from Chaz. Chaz and his lies. _

_END FLASHBACK_

I shuddered and mentally shook myself, wrapping my arms around my aching chest. Glancing over at Chaz, I saw him staring in front of him with sad, regretful eyes. I wondered for a moment if he had been thinking about that same afternoon. Without thinking, my mind-hands slapped me, and I abruptly stopped as the group continued on, my cheek burning. "Jesus, Courtney. Get _a hold _of yourself!" Of course Chaz wouldn't be thinking about that. Sure, we've tried to remain friends, but he'd always do something to make me lose my trust for him. And he'd always end up begging me to forgive him, and I _always _did. Now, I wasn't too sure if I could forgive him. Not after that kiss.

* * *

**I wouldn't forgive Chaz after that kiss, WOULD YOU? ~I'M RUNNING A POLE!~ (A stupid one at that. WHAT? I'm bored.) At the end of your reviews, PLEASE vote for if you'd forgive Chaz or not. I'll tally up the scores and put 'em in the next chappie! Just put a CHAZ: NO, or CHAZ: YES at the end. Ya don't have to. Just bored OKAY?! PEACE! One more thing...you guys've seriously not figured out who D is yet? WELL?? IT'S SO OBVIOUS!**


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